Automatic dipping headlights

[RWJ Branch]

My ES300h 2020 has auto dipping headlights.  When there are no oncoming cars, headlights switch to high beam only after my car speed exceeds 40mph.  When travelling on winding country lanes, it would be better if full beam were restored above 25 - 30mph.   Can the control system be adjusted to reduce the high beam switching speed ?  My local dealer says this is not possible, but to me this seems to need just a simple software change. Any help?

[NemesisUK]

I believe this has been discussed before and the conclusion was there is no adjustment possible.

If it's the same as my RC you can turn off the auto function and resort to manual switching though

[m4rkw]

It is often irritating that cars aren't all open source. On my wife's car which is a Toyota Rav-4 if you remove the key and open the drivers door having left the lights on it makes an irritating constant beep to remind you to turn them off. On my car, a Toyota Harrier built two years prior to hers, if you do the same thing it just switches the lights off for you. I checked with Techstream, no way to set the same behaviour on hers. It's such a simple thing in software terms but the computers are all proprietary.

[Guest]

I noticed a difference between the auto high beam system on my ES after having an IS, on the IS it switched very efficiently from dipped to full main beam however I believe the system on the ES to be a bit more nuanced, instead of simply switching on and off it appears to adjust the beam (not switch it off and on) depending on the surrounding conditions, I have on occasion switched the auto function off and manually used full beam therefore getting the “true full experience”

[Eldavo]

I have the tech and safety pack with the triple LED headlights and I think that the AHB turns the individual elements up and down so as not to dazzle other road users. 
 

Glad I’m not the only one who’s found that switching it off and putting high beam on manually is a lot brighter too - thought I was imagining things. 

[SH20]

Very useful extra on any car.  I will find out tomorrow when I pick up my Premium Edition if it has auto high beam, not sure it does as I thought it only exists on the triple LED lamps.

[peniole]

You do have auto high bean, but not of the matrix variety. Just high when no-one is around, and back to low when an oncoming or overtaking car is detected. No blanking out trickery. Simple button at the end of the stalk to activate and deactivate the system.

[SH20]

Yes, discovered that on collection, silly really as my wife's little Toyota Yaris has auto high beam function so an ES was always going to have it albeit not the best grade of auto high beam that my previous ES had with the triple headlamp set up.  Still, very useful where I live in a very rural area.

[Mincey]

The band I'm currently in have found a place to rehearse. It's close to where the drummer lives, fairly close to where the guitarist and singer live, but a 40 minute drive from where I live. It's also at the far edge of the back of beyond, and I was soon regretting taking my bass and not a banjo.

Anyway, I digress. It was Betsy's first trip in "proper dark", i.e. with only the moon for lighting. I tried out the adaptive main beam thing and I'm in two minds. Nobody coming in the opposite direction flashed me after I finally reached civilisation again even when the blue light was on, but it did take a little longer to turn up the brightness in some places than I'd wished. Certainly not as bright as main beam but not a bad attempt. Better than constantly flicking the main beam on and off and more responsive to oncoming traffic than the system on my IS300h which did incur some retaliatory flashes on the A14. Once someone develops a mind reading attachment for the car where you just think "more light", "wipers on", "turn that awful Adele woman off" and it reacts accordingly, then I think we'll be going in the right direction.